Inferno of the Stars
by Creekflight
Summary: With no guidance from their ancestors, the clans are faced with decision to make- let Moonclan drive out their neighboring clans or join the fight against them. Lives and futures at stake, the decision is easy for some but dooming for others. The future is dark and uncertain. (Kinda AU with some new clans)
1. Introduction and Allegiances

Inferno of the Stars

Turmoil arises after the seven clans have lived in peace for many, many moons. The arrival of an ominous and powerful new band of cats, mockingly calling themselves Moonclan, stirs up an unrest. Deafening silence from their ancestral Starclan leaves them even more baffled. It isn't until a sudden and unprovoked attack on both Skyclan and Earthclan, neighbors and allies, the clans realize their futures may be gravely in danger. When the two clans are driven out of their territories deep in the midst of nightfall, a trend becomes apparent- has Starclan sent these cats to cleanse the region until only the four original clans remain? Fireclan is faced with an ultimatum, convince their fellow clans to join the impending fight with them or face the same fate as Skyclan and Earthclan.

Thunderclan, Riverclan, Windclan, and Shadowclan are as described in the novels. Skyclan has returned to live with them in a forest territory similar to Thunderclan's, albeit with taller trees and a gorge-like camp. Earthclan is a newer clan that has struggled to thrive in a territory with sparse vegetation and heavy brush. Fireclan is a clan that lives in caves and rocks, with a healing forested territory that suffered a devastating fire many moons ago. It is a clan of rebirth and brawn through the darkest of times.

(This story and the clans are loosely based on a RPG site that has since been taken down. Therefore, some of the characters are based on characters named by those who were part of the site, as well as some of the story lines!)

Allegiances:

**Fireclan**

_Leader_: Leafstar- black she-cat with green eyes

_Deputy_: Ospreystep- black and white tom with coarse fur and blue eyes

_Medicine Cat(s)_: Emberleaf- smoky gray she-cat

_Warriors_: Ivywing- light gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Ghostlight- white tom with yellow eyes

Blossomstorm- beautiful tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

Scorchnose- light orange she-cat

Evelight- dark gray she-cat with orange eyes

Glazedheart- white and brown patched she-cat

Smolderflight- gray mottled tom

Starlingpelt- darkly mottled she-cat with blue eyes

_Apprentices_: Runningpaw- brindle she-cat with yellow eyes mentored by Evelight

Fallowpaw- pretty gray tabby mentored by Smolderflight

Tempestpaw- black tom with deep blue eyes mentored by Starlingpelt

Burdockpaw- black and white patched tom with green eyes mentored by Glazedheart

_Queens_: Ashenfoot- light gray she-cat with green eyes

_Kits:_ Primrosekit- Dark gray and white speckled she-cat with icy blue eyes, Leafstar's daughter

**Moonclan**

_Leaders_: Riddlestar- massive dark gray tabby tom with amber eyes

Ever- a small calico she-cat with black eyes and hugely proportioned claws

_Deputy:_ Ankheyes- large black tom

_Medicine Cat(s)_: Swancry- sleek gray tabby she-cat

_Warriors_: Chiyosniff- large mottle tom

Duskstorm- black and gray tom

Freefall- gray and white tom

Plumeshade- dark gray she-cat with blue eyes

Shadowthirst- black she-cat with brown eyes

Scorpionstripe- large gray blue she-cat with white swirled around her body

_Apprentices_: Cassius- long-furred golden tom

_Kits_: Lunarkit- little gray she-cat

_Queens_: Eternalmaze- brindled she-cat

**Thunderclan**

_Leader_: Darkstar- a dark brown tom with amber eyes

_Deputy_: Wasptalon- a ginger tom with green eyes

_Medicine Cat(s)_: Moonlight-a silver tabby she-cat with green eyes

Warriors: Sunnywind- a pretty cream colored she-cat

Fireflight- an orange tabby she-cat

Grayswoop- a fluffy gray she-cat

_Apprentices:_ Wolfpaw- a large dark gray tom

**Riverclan**

_Leader_: Herringstar- dark gray tabby tom

_Deputy_: Pebblestream- light brown spotted she-cat

_Medicine Cat(s)_: Heronbreeze- a light blue-gray she-cat

_Warriors_: Stormflight- muscular gray tom with blue eyes

**Windclan**

_Leader_: Sunstar- a ginger she-cat with green eyes

_Deputy_: Windstalker- a wiry light gray tom

_Medicine Cat(s)_: Snowingash- light gray and white spoltched she-cat

Featherpaw- light gray tabby

**Shadowclan**

_Leader_: Nightstar- black tom with gray eyes

_Deputy_: Hornetshade- large brown tabby with black paws and piercing yellow eyes

_Medicine Cat(s)_: Amberleap- dark chocolate she-cat with amber eyes

Ashenpaw- mottled gray and black she-cat with split colored face, black on one half and gray on the other

**Skyclan**

_Leader_: Jewelstar

_Deputy_: Sif

_Medicine Cat(s)_: Fernwhisker, Spottedberry

**Earthclan**

_Leader_: Icestar

_Deputy_: Runningstorm

_Medicine Cat(s)_: Lavenderbreeze


	2. Chapter 2: The Gathering

The moon loomed over the Gathering Place, casting shadows and bathing the rocky terrain in a cold, silver light. Several clans had already arrived but every cats was speaking in hushed tones, only sharing tongues and communicating with cats of their own clan. Four leaders were already perched on the highest stones, warily searching the span of the rocky clearing and what lied past the territories. A dark gray tabby tom, Herringstar, was the first to break the silence,

"It's already moonhigh, they should be here by now." His voice was loud enough for the other leaders to hear, but soft enough not to carry to the cats gathered below. "Skyclan hasn't marked their border in a couple sunrises."

Sunstar of Windclan shifted her paws uneasily before speaking, "Earthclan hasn't been seen either, I sent a patrol just this morning to check but the camp seems to be abandoned. There was blood everywhere."

"Has Starclan spoken with any of your medicine cats?" Darkstar queried, already suspecting the answer. The question hung for a few moments as the leaders looked at each other hopefully, but no response came. "I don't think Fireclan is coming. If Moonclan has driven Earthclan and Skyclan from their territories…"

Nightstar shook his head,"Hornetshade's hunting patrol saw them just earlier today, marking the border. Leafstar should be here, unless something happened between then and now."

Just as the Shadowclan leader spoke, Leafstar bounded into the Gathering alongside her deputy, Ospreystep. The Fireclan cats hurriedly settled among the other clans, sticking in clusters. The black she-cat scaled the rocks and took her place beside the other leaders, dipping her head in greeting. "I'm sorry for being late, when we passed through Skyclan's territory we ran into something." Her normally bright green eyes were dark as she continued, "They're gone. There were bodies and Moonclan scent all over the place."

* * *

"Great Starclan, that cat is massive!" Burdockpaw whispered, nudging his littermate, Tempestpaw. A large dark gray tom sat nearby, gazing intently up at the leaders. In fact, most cats were staring up at the leaders with solemn expressions and anxiously awaiting what they had to report. The two apprentices were oblivious to the serious nature in the air, they hadn't seen the wreckage in Skyclan since they were in the middle of the patrol when they passed through the territory.

"He must be a warrior," Tempestpaw responded, awe clear in his voice. It was their very first Gathering, they had only be apprenticed a few sunrises earlier. It is really an honor to be chosen to go to a Gathering, but both he and Burdockpaw suspected that their father being the clan deputy had something to do with it.

A golden tabby she-cat sitting nearby snorted, rolling her eyes, "Don't let him hear you, my brother already has a complex." She got up and sat a little closer, her clan mates eyeing her. "I'm Sagepaw from Thunderclan, and that is Wolfpaw," she said, flicking her tail towards the tom.

"This is our first Gathering!" Tempestpaw blurted out. "I'm Tempestpaw, and this is my brother, Burdockpaw."

A small mottled warrior, his mentor Starlingpelt, quickly shushed them. "The leaders are about to speak!"

* * *

"Cats of the clans, fall silent as the Gathering is about to begin," Darkstar called out, casting confused silence over everyone gathered below. "Earthclan and Skyclan are not coming."

The silence was broken at these words and questions erupted. "Where are they?" "What does he mean, why aren't they coming? What has happened?"

"It seems as if Moonclan has driven them out of their territories a few days ago. Since they've arrived, we feared they would be a threat. Now we know that they are," Nightstar said, flattening his ears. "They haven't set foot in Shadowclan territory, and they dare not."

"Nor have they been anywhere near Windclan's border. They stayed on Earthclan's side," Sunstar added.

"We have caught their scent lingering near Fireclan, just this morning Scorchnose had to remark the border with her patrol," Leafstar said, narrowing her eyes. How peculiar it was, that Moonclan would only seem to near her territory and not the other clans. She scanned the group of cats for her own clan mates and watched the worry on their faces. "My clan will not be driven away." She looked to the other leaders for support, but none would meet her gaze.

"With Skyclan and Earthclan driven away, it seems like Moonclan is targeting them in some kind of order." This time, it was a light blue she-cat that spoke. She padded forward from among the medicine cats and raised her voice, "It's almost as if…"

"As if they are only driving out certain clans," Herringstar finished her sentence, nodding to Heronbreeze. "Starclan has not spoken since Moonclan has arrived. What if they are holding their silence for a reason?" An uncomfortable silence blanketed the scene.

Leafstar gaped in disbelief, jumping to her paws. "What are you trying to say?" she asked, her fur being to bristle.

Sunstar lowered her muzzle in apparent shame, but answered her, "Herringstar is right, I don't think my clan is threatened by Moonclan. In the past, there were four clans that lived in peace. Only four."

"What about Skyclan? Skyclan was the fifth, they were brought back and they were fine," Leafstar countered, remembering hearing the history when she was a kit. Skyclan had been lost, then returned. Earthclan on the other hand, had risen from a group of rogues guided by Starclan. Her own clan, Fireclan, had been formerly known as Forestclan derived from Thunderclan when it had grown too large, but was later renamed Fireclan after their territory was scorched and changed forever.

"It is a stretch, but it is the only thing that makes any sense," Darkstar said, shaking his head. "I too think Fireclan is next. I will not get in the way of what is destined."

Leafstar struggled to find words, her throat felt dry. Instead, Ospreystep leapt forward in disbelief, Thunderclan had always been their closest ally. "How could you doom our clan like this? We have kits and elders, it is completely against the code!" he hissed. His clan echoed the fear-driven anger below. "We could beat Moonclan, we could do it together."

"We have all seen these cats. They are powerful and we are no match against them. They already drove out two clans, I will not endanger my own like this," Herringstar sided with Darkstar, unable to meet the Fireclan leader's eyes.

"Sunstar? Nightstar?" Leafstar spoke this time, though her words were empty. They both shook their heads. The black she-cat felt as if her heart was breaking. No cat said a word for several moments. She then turned and looked down below, a fire burning in her eyes and her hackles rising.

"Fireclan will remember this day, when the clans turned their backs on our warriors, our kits, and our queens. There are no longer stars to guide us or allies to trust. We are alone. It is time for us to go home and fight for our territory and for our place. We don't need anyone else." Leafstar's words were heavy. She knew her clan was doomed. Everyone knew, even the youngest of apprentices.

Without another word, she leapt from her perch and wove her way through the parting crowd, feeling the burning gazes of the four clans. Fireclan fell in step behind her, broken and abandoned and in shock.

A war was coming and it was a war they knew they could not win.


	3. Chapter 3: The Meeting

Tempestpaw stirred slowly in his nest within the apprentice den, stretching each of his limbs and noticing for the first time the new downy feathers that lined his bedding. He had been so exhausted from Gathering that he missed them last night when he crashed into sleep. The scent of Fallowpaw lingered on them but when he looked around the den, she was already gone_. She must be on dawn patrol_, he thought. He stepped onto the cold, stony floor and quietly exited the den so as to not disturb his still sleeping brother as well as Runningpaw.

Light filtered into the caverns, dimly lighting the entirety of Fireclan's camp. It must've still been early according to the lack of noise that normally bounced and echoed when cats occupied the main stone clearing. The only sound present was low murmuring in the direction of the leader's den. The voices of Leafstar, Ospreystep, and Emberleaf could be made out. It was likely that they had stayed up discussing the clan's future all night.

When the Gathering cats returned last night, Leafstar had held a meeting to inform every one of their fate. As expected, shock and fear were the most prevalent emotions- even anger at their fellow clans for the apathy they had shown. It was unknown what would happen to Fireclan, however the only reassurance was the fact that Moonclan hadn't been seen on their territory any recently.

A tortoiseshell she-cat crept out of the warriors' den, blinking open soft green eyes and shaking her pelt before crossing over to where Tempestpaw stood. Blossomstorm nuzzled him in greeting, then sat beside him and pricked her ears to the leader's den as well. "I'm sorry your first Gathering wasn't as peaceful as it should have been," she meowed, sympathy clear in her voice.

Sitting down, Tempestpaw turned to look at his mother before responding, "I'm still glad I got to go and hear what the clans had to say! Although I wish they had said something different." It had been a shock actually, after hearing all his life how honorable and loyal the clans were to find out they were willing to abandon an ally. The black tom was hurt and confused, it had been hard to see his clan mates lose friendships and trust within the span of one night. "Why hasn't Starclan spoken to Emberleaf?"

The silence from Starclan had begun even before Tempestpaw's birth. He had never known a relationship with their ancestors and often pondered the reality of it. If such a clan of ancestors watched over the clans, how could they allow Skyclan and Earthclan to suffer as they had, without any warning?

Blossomstorm spoke no response, wondering the same thing herself. By that time, more cats had entered the stone clearing. The air was full of tension-it seemed as if Tempestpaw had been the only cat that had slept soundly.

A gray, mottled tom padded into camp with a mouse dangling from his jaws, followed by the rest of the dawn patrol. Smolderflight set it down at the fresh-kill pile and joined his mate, Ashenfoot, as she slunk out of the nursery. Primrosekit crawled after her, but remained in the mouth of the nursery by herself.

Fallowpaw trotted over to Tempestpaw and his mother, dipping her head in greeting before sitting beside them. She left pawprints in her wake from the dew that clung to her paws from patrolling the territory.

Just before Tempestpaw got to thank her for weaving feathers into his nest, commotion from the leader's den caught his attention as well as his clanmates'.

Leafstar scaled the cavern wall to her usual spot, high enough on the rocks to be seen by every cat. "Fireclan, gather below to hear what I have to say."

Her voice was strong and clear, whatever cats remained in their dens awoke and joined the gathered clan.

"So far there was been no indication that Moonclan will attack us as of yet. Our borders have not been crossed and no cats have been seen on our land. I do not plan on leaving the territories. Our clan is strong and we have every right to be right where we are," she spoke. Cats nodded in agreement below. "However, I do think it would be wise to increase border patrols to ensure they are not crossed. By _any_ clan."

"Has Starclan spoken to you?" Starlingpelt asked, looking more towards their medicine cat than Leafstar. "Have they shown any signs?"

"No, I have received nothing from them still," Emberleaf lowered her head. "I have hope that they would warn us of an impending attack, if there were one coming."

"How could you hope that, when they have showed us nothing for the past several moons?" This time, it was Runningpaw who spoke up. A few warriors murmured in agreement at her words.

Emberleaf said nothing.

"From now on, we will have four border patrols a day. One for the dawn, one for the day, one for dusk, and one for moonhigh," Ospreystep changed the subject. Protest rose upon mention of the last one, a patrol at moonhigh would be even more tiring than the dawn. "I know it will be late, but if Skyclan and Earthclan were driven out in the night it is best to be prepared for anything during nightfall."

Although Leafstar and Ospreystep sounded confident about the situation, Tempestpaw still felt uneasy. Clearly they felt threatened to some extent if they were increasing patrols. He looked around and noticed that his clan mates must have been figuring the same thing, but no one said a word.

"This meeting is over, you all may return to your duties," Leafstar finished, then bounded down and made her way over to her daughter, Primrosekit.

Tempestpaw stared blankly at them for a moment, reminiscing about his kithood when he and Burdockpaw used to play mossball with the speckled she-kit. She was only a moon younger, but she was so much smaller than the two toms-she had gotten the small frame from her mother. He purred as he recalled the good times, then jumped back into reality once he felt Fallowpaw brush past him and head towards her mentor.

After the distraction of the meeting, he still never thanked her for the feathers.


	4. Chapter 4: The Patrol

Yawning, Tempestpaw softly stepped around his sleeping brother in the apprentice cave and entered the main cavern. Low thunder rumbled in the distance, echoing and bouncing off the stony walls. The tom tilted his head to the high ceiling and gazed through the cracks, but only a dark black sky was visible. _A storm is coming_, he thought.

"Are you ready?" Starlingpelt whispered, near the entrance of camp. Beside her stood Leafstar and Smolderflight, both of which were quietly discussing something.

This was Tempestpaw's first moonhigh patrol since Ospreystep had implemented the idea. So far, the past several days had been uneventful with no threats from Moonclan. The mood had lightened immensely since the Gathering, just this evening Fallowleap and Runningsky had received their warrior names.

The four cats made their way out of camp, nodding to the two new warriors sitting vigil at the entrance. A light rain had started to fall and the clouds appeared dark and cumbersome. The territory was lit in an eerie gray haze, static from electricity deep within the clouds clung to their coats. Tempestpaw stayed close to his mentor, scenting the air for anything besides dampness from the drizzling.

"It could be worse!" Tempestpaw joked cheerily, but received no response from his clanmates.

"This border looks good," Leafstar said, flattening her ears as a loud crack of thunder shook the trees. With that, the drizzle became a torrential downpour. "Let's get back to camp! There's no point in all of us getting soaked, we can finish the patrol once the storm clears!"

Shivering, they began the trek back to camp with haste. Puddles gathered in the grass, the ground was saturated to the point where each pawstep they took resulted in the splattering of mud and water.

Lightning blazed through the dimly lit territory as they neared camp, revealing the outline of a single cat laying near the mouth of the cave entrance. The metal tang of blood in the air washed over the patrol just as fear began to set in. A familiar screech from within the camp made their blood run cold.

Adrenaline fueled Tempestpaw and he sprinted ahead, his heart sinking as he passed Fallowleap's limp figure sprawled on the floor. He burst into the camp and froze as he took in everything, battered warriors and the stench of blood and Moonclan overwhelming his senses. He searched desperately for his kin, his only brother. _There!_

The black and white apprentice was in the gaping mouth of the nursery, slashing his forepaws across the muzzle of a massive blue gray warrior. Beside him lay Ashenfoot, crumpled and motionless.

Tempestpaw lunged forward with his heart in his throat, claws unsheathed and hackles raised. He dodged the sparring cats around him and tackled the huge she-cat, knocking her off balance and away from his brother. Snarling, he dug his claws into her shoulders and sank his teeth into her scruff, waiting for Burdockpaw to join him in fighting the Moonclan cat. Cold dread filled his belly as the moments passed, but the black and white tom did not come to his aid.

"Moonclan, retreat!" A booming voice vibrated through the cavern, originating from the largest gray tabby Tempestpaw had ever seen. It was Riddlestar. "Flee Fireclan! If you are not gone by tonight you will be finished in the morning." With that, Tempestpaw watched as they departed into the storming night. The sticky feeling of blood on his paws brought him back to attention.

He looked down and a sea of red was pooling around him, pouring from a gash by Burdockpaw's throat. His brother's eyes were glazed over and he was still. The black tom felt broken, numbness washing over him. He hadn't even said goodbye to his best friend.


End file.
